Terra Co-founder Daniel Shin Indicted by South Korean Authorities

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Terra Co-founder Daniel Shin Indicted by South Korean Authorities
  • South Korean prosecutors have indicted Terraform Labs co-founder Daniel Shin.
  • Shin was indicted along with nine others on multiple charges including violations of capital markets law.
  • The prosecutors have alleged that Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin was deemed to fail from its inception.

Terraform Labs co-founder Shin Hyun-Seong aka Daniel Shin has reportedly been indicted by prosecutors in South Korea. The indictment comes just a day after the Seoul Southern District Court dismissed securities violation charges that were filed against Shin by local prosecutors for his role in the collapse of Terra last year.

According to a report by Reuters, Daniel Shin was indicted for multiple charges including fraud, illegal trading, and violation of the capital markets law. In a press briefing earlier today, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office revealed that it has frozen assets worth 246.8 billion won ($187.7 million) in connection with the case.

All of the charged individuals are directly linked to Terraform Labs. These people reportedly held different roles at the firm including marketing, systems development, and management. The South Korean officials further revealed that the charged individuals took 463 billion won in profit before the firm collapsed in May last year.

South Korean prosecutors believe that Terraform Labs’ algorithmic stablecoin and related projects were a “fabrication” since their inception. According to them, the algorithm that was developed to keep the token’s price stable and pegged was not possible in the first place. The actions of the co-founder and his employees lead to astronomical damage for investors around the world.

Daniel Shin has maintained his innocence in the matter since last year. His legal representatives previously stated that he hadn’t been involved in Terraform Labs’ operations since 2020. The firm’s other co-founder, Do Kwon, was indicted by prosecutors on similar charges in late 2022. Kwon’s extradition from Montenegro is currently being sought by South Korean officials.

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